Books I read in November 2012

Great quote about books from Doctor Who! I was inspired by a new years resolution of friends of mine to keep track of all the books I read each year. So I have been posting every month a list of the books I read. We are almost to the end of 2012....

Books I read in November:


A Play of Lords by Margaret Frazer The players go to London!
A Play of Treachery by Margaret Frazer
Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D MacDonald
Your House is on Fire, your Children All Gone by Stefan Kiesbye (library) spooky
I watch therefore I am  by Gregory Bergman and Peter Archer (library) Philosophy from TV shows, yes it is possible! a bit of fun
The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly (library) liked, similar to Kate Atkinson and Elizabeth George
The Corpse in the Flannel Nightgown by Margaret Scherf --Ms. Scherf was a ghostwriter for one of the Nancy Drew mysteries and she also wrote many other mystery books under her own name during her short career
Strapless by Deborah Davis (library) I read Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner That Shocked a Nation  by Davis last month and enjoyed it so much I decided to read more of her work. This is about artist, John Singer Sargent.
The Forever Marriage by Ann Bauer (library) enjoyed it, would recommend
Inside Joss' Dollhouse ed. by Jane Espenson essays about the Joss Whedon TV show Dollhouse
When it Happens to You by Molly Ringwald (library)--I thought it was just okay
Niceville by Carsten Stroud (library) loved this one, very Stephen King-ish Creepy, but great characters I will be looking for more by this author!
The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman (library) history about the world before WWI, from my obsession with Downton Abbey and Maisie Dobbs and other WWI novels, this book gives you what the world was like before WWI
Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D MacDonald
Darker Than Amber by John D MacDonald 190 pages read in approx. 2 1/2 hours on flight from Seattle, WA to Charlotte, NC
One Fearful Yellow Eye by John D MacDonald
The Empty Glass by J. I . Baker (library) very film-noirish book about Marilyn Monroe's death
Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures by Emma Straub (library)
Broken Harbor by Tana French (library) thriller, I really like this author and each book gets better and better than the last

Pale Gray for Guilt by John D. MacDonald

20 books read this month

Monday's Postcard: New York State

Super cute map style postcard from my sister in 2001. I always enjoy the retro style map postcards.

Monday's Postcard: Champaign, IL

I had a layover in Champaign, IL in 1990 and I bought this gorgeous postcard at the airport.

Monday's Postcard: Yosemite

Still haven't been to Yosemite...another year goes by....

Wild Card: Munchen

A postcard from a dear friend who went to Oktoberfest in Germany last year!

Monday's Postcard: Vancouver Island

Closer to home, a waterfront view of Nanaimo, BC, Canada, if you have the chance, you ought to visit here too!! :-)

Books I read in October 2012

I should note that when I first got out of college, I would usually buy all the books that I read. I rarely went to the library. I did buy used, so that was good, but I did buy a lot of books in hardback as they were published. I also used to rack up a lot of debt!! Compared to now! I rarely purchase a hardback book that has just been published. I just cannot afford it. I use the library almost exclusively and rely on used bookstores (both brick and mortar and online)
Here are the books I read in October:

The Dark Rose by Erin Kelly (library) quite liked it, if you like Kate Atkinson or Elizabeth George modern British mysteries
Gilded Age by Claire McMillan (library) If you like Edith Wharton, this is an modernized House of Mirth
King Dork by Frank Portman (library) YA nerdy guy in junior high/high school and why he hates Catcher in the Rye --quite amusing I thought
Retirement Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers by Ellen Schultz (library) I just kept getting angrier and angrier while reading this one
Gone by Cathi Hanauer (library) A woman's husband runs off with the babysitter/midlife crisis drama
Lulu in Hollywood by Louise Brooks (library) picked up after reading The Chaperone last month
A Purple Place for Dying by John D. MacDonald -I pack these paperbacks in my suitcase for easy reading on the road
A Play of  Dux Moraud by Margaret Frazer 2nd in this series and thoroughly enjoying these!
The Innocents by Francesca Segal (library) another modernization of Edith Wharton--this time Age of Innocence--I liked Gilded Age better and the original age of innocence better
Guest of Honor: Booker T Washington, Theodore Roosevelt and the White House Dinner that Shocked a Nation by Deborah Davis (library) very interesting!!
The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George (library) George tries her hand at a YA novel set in the PNW, I enjoyed it and hope for more!
Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult (library) Picoult also doing a YA novel with her daughter, okay
You are the Love of My Life by Susan Richards Shreve (library) depressing
A Play of Knaves by Margaret Frazer -just fun and easy paperbacks to read
The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian (library) super spooky ghost story
We Rode the Orphan Trains by Andrea Warren (library) Picked up after reading the Chaperone last month
House of Mirth by Edith Wharton-- reread because of reading The Gilded Age earlier this month
The Quick Red Fox by John D MacDonald--reading these in order of publication
The Pleasures of Men by Kate Williams (library) a Jack the Ripper-ish story
Double Image by Helen MacInnes (library) So I read this article about the best sellers from 1966 compared to today and this was one of the Best Sellers of 1966 (the 1960's books got often better reviews than the modern books when compared!!)

20 books read this month
Abandoned books: The Queens Lover by Francine du Plessix Gray --just did not grab me and was due at library, so I returned it without finishing it